A significant milestone was reached by Cordaid’s plastic waste management project RESILIENT in Dhaka North City Corporation and Narayanganj City Corporation with the opening of the Buy-Back Center (Plastic Bazar), one of the initiative’s main components, in Narayanganj.
A donation from The Coca-Cola Foundation made the initiative feasible. The project intends to create green entrepreneurs and improve plastic trash collection techniques in order to remove plastic waste from ecosystems by building Buy-Back Centers, which will raise two waste collectors to the status of aggregators.
These centers act as community recycling facilities, where recyclables like plastics, paper, cans, glass, and PET bottles are purchased, sorted, and resold to aggregators and recyclers, a press release said here today.
This system allows 400 local waste collectors and approximately 11,000 community members to earn an income by selling their recyclables.
The center was inaugurated by Mohammad Zakir Hossain, Chief Executive Officer of Narayanganj City Corporation. In addition, other notable attendees include Md. Moinul Islam, Urban Planner, Narayanganj City Corporation, Asit Baran Biswas, Councilor of ward 15 and President of the Standing Committee on Waste Management, Narayanganj City Corporation, Abul Kalam Azad, Program Director, Cordaid and Md. Firoz Alam, Project Manager – RESILIENT, Cordaid Bangladesh One of the key contributors behind the thought process of the Buy-Back center.
“The City Corporation has been working tirelessly to make the city green, clean, vibrant, and pollution-free,” stated Dr. Salina Hayat Ivy, the mayor of Narayanganj City. It has always been our aim to create a green Narayanganj. Thus, cutting-edge strategies like Plastic Buy-Back Centers will expedite our job even further.
Additionally, she stated, “This is a great effort that will financially support garbage workers, particularly female waste workers. I am grateful to everyone involved in this project, especially the city’s citizens, and I implore them to cooperate in order to more successfully address the problem of plastic pollution.
Although Buy-Back Centers provide revolutionary advantages to all waste collectors, women are particularly encouraged to take advantage of this program because they are underrepresented in this industry.
These centers provide a more formalized and stable platform for selling recyclable materials, potentially leading to consistent and higher incomes.
Additionally, these centers can ensure better health and safety conditions by adhering to regulated standards, providing essential protective gear, and offering training on safe handling practices.
They also offer access to services like financial literacy programs, savings schemes, and credit facilities, providing assistance to female waste collectors in managing their earnings and planning for long-term financial security.
Two centers will also provide opportunities for skill development and advancement, enabling women to assume more significant roles in the recycling value chain. Cordaid, with support from The Coca-Cola Foundation, is implementing the RESILIENT project (Recycling for the Environment by Strengthening Income and Livelihood of the Entrepreneurs) in Dhaka North City Corporation and Narayanganj City Corporation.
The goal of this project is to improve the management of plastic waste by working with local service providers, city corporations, civil society organizations, and the corporate sector, as well as by providing training to both formal and informal plastic waste players.
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are being supported in large part by The Coca-Cola Foundation and the Coca-Cola system in Bangladesh. Community development is actively supported by local efforts of the company’s global projects, such as the Women Business Center, Plastic collection, and Water Stewardship.
